(box score)
Widener jumped to a three-run first inning lead and had little trouble in an 8-5 victory at Swarthmore.
Junior Dan Sieracki (Cherry Hill, NJ) staked Widener to a 1-0 lead in the first with a single to left and sophomore Matt Hone (Newtown, PA) drove in two more runs on a two-out single to right. The Pride have scored in the first inning in eight of their last 11 games.
Swarthmore got on the board in the third with an unearned run, but Widener added three more in the fifth and two in the sixth to open an 8-1 lead.
The Garnet pieced together a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth, but only managed one more run over the final three innings.
Sophomore Brandon McCloskey (Belford, NJ) improved to 4-0 in just his fourth appearance of the season, retiring all six batters he faced. Hone went 2-for-2 with three RBI, Sieracki had two hits and junior Sean Saverio (Horsham, PA) scored two runs.
The Pride (13-5) have won eight of their last nine on the road against Division III opponents dating to last season.
Neil Mejia drove in two runs for the Garnet (9-5).
The win gives the Pride an 8-7 lead in the "320 Challenge," the annual series pitting the schools in their 19 shared sports. Widener needs just two more points to win the challenge.
Widener on Friday travels to Elizabethtown to open a three-game Commonwealth Conference set against the Blue Jays at 3:30 pm. The two have met in the conference championship game in both of the last two seasons, with each team earning a title.
